Rodney Dodig

I sit at the keyboard on a daily basis. Some days the words flow like honey; golden, sweet, tempting and sticky. Then there are the other days. I call them my writer’s wasteland. On these days, I sit in the middle of a desert. There are no words. They hide in the sand, giving a clear view to the horizon with nothing to interrupt. The haze from the heat of frustration creates mirages, faint images of words that might be. I struggle to advance the small paragraph that stares back at me from the computer screen. It’s no use, hours pass; I dig deeper making pits in the desolation. A rare word appears and sometimes a miracle, a full sentence. That’s it though, so eventually I start wandering the maze of the internet. Searching for, I don’t know what. Then, shut down, power off, maybe a walk will help; it usually does.

For now, this is the struggle with book #2. The sentences come slowly, the paragraphs seem to take forever and the full chapter is at the end of that long and winding road. I’m still stuck on the rewrite of my query letter and getting it out to more agents. I’ve come to realize that this part of writing is not enjoyable. I need an assistant. One piece of good (or bad) news happened today depending on how you look at it. I received my first rejection notice. I’m now a member of a group of very famous writers whose works were rejected many times before being accepted. The “form” letter used a sentence that gave me hope, whether intentional or not. “We strongly encourage you to seek out other agents who would be able to take your work.” It’s the strongly encourage you part that made me feel good about the letter despite the fact that they were rejecting me.

Since the last entry, I had breakfast with Tim. He’s still struggling to find a job with a school here. A nine to five with benefits is what he needs. On Sunday, I met up with Amanda for lunch and afterwards gave her a tour of Barranco. We also enjoyed a few glasses of wine and I had a Pisco Sour or two. The second scariest taxi ride home in Peru followed. I suffered greatly the next day. Not from a hangover, just that tired I don’t want to do anything laziness that follows a day of fun. On Tuesday I met with Kathy. She was in San Borja getting a MRI done. She met me in Das Frutas, a small coffee/juice place on the corner from my house. She’s doing great and having a lot of fun with some new friends. On Thursday it was Katrina’s turn. We met for lunch at a small sandwich stand, they have great milkshakes. Afterwards we went to Starbucks for coffee and talked about our writing, Huanchaco and other mutual interests. Today was Larry’s turn again, our usual Friday coffee where we talk about our writing, politics and his family. It’s always a good couple of hours. He gave me the first chapter of his new book to look over. It’s very exciting. If he can get it done, it will be a good read. Amanda, Katrina and Larry all have family visiting this fall. They may call on my expertise as a guide. I need to break out my notes and polish up my talk.

Last, I watched a couple of movies this week. The first was “The Immortals.” It was OK. I actually enjoyed watching it but afterwards felt a little disappointed. It certain wasn’t as good as “The 300.” I give it 3½ Llamas on my grading scale. Bif screen would probably make it more enjoyable. I bought the DVD and watched it on TV. The next was “TinTin,” another good but not great movie. Big screen, not necessary as far as I’m concerned. I will give it 3½ Llamas also but simply for the great action scenes. Both of these were good for sitting at home, making your own popcorn and sipping a beer or nice cocktail.

That’s it, have a great weekend everyone. For those of you thinking about it, get creative. Write, paint, draw, quilt, arrange flowers, anything; exercise the brain and then go for a long walk.

The past week has been fraught with adventures in my writing life. I finally have a query letter with the first few pages of book one off to five agents. These five say they will have evaluated my letter and the pages from my book in anywhere from two to eight weeks. That is, the ones who said they would answer at all. Most said, “If you haven’t heard from us by (fill in the # of weeks) it means we’re not interested at this time.” I understand the time requirement. After all, if you are receiving hundreds of e-mails weekly with query letters and pages from books attached, it takes time to give them thought. I can’t understand why

1. They couldn’t at least send out an automated response saying they received your query.

Or

1. They couldn’t send out an automated response saying they weren’t interested.

If you don’t hear anything, you can only wonder if they ever received your query in the first place. Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles, I wonder how they would feel if they were in the writer’s position.

I’ve finally found a great example of a good query letter and plan to edit mine before sending it to more agents. I’ve gone through the Writer’s Market listings and selected another four. I’ll keep going until I get to fifty or so and then reevaluate my course of action. I will go to self publishing if I have to.

I’m progressing well on the second book. I’m a little puzzled about how much of book one I need to reference in this one. Especially as it concerns character development. I’ve read a few books done in series by authors and have noticed that the reader is almost expected to know about the main characters already. The books I read were all well into the series and I’m thinking that I need to get books one and two in a couple of series to see how these successful authors dealt with it. Book 2 (untitled at this point) finds my intrepid detective assigned to a antinarcotics unit in the jungles of Peru. They are trying to find the source of cocaine to one of the major dealers in Lima. They want to break up his organization.  The book will also touch on child soldiers and slavery somewhat but merely as a subplot to the main story. I’ve almost completed chapter 8 and hope to get started on chapter 9 today.

My adventures at the dentist continue. On Monday, his drill broke again. This time I was able to figure out what the problem was. The old crowns were not what he was dealing with. I had large fillings put in my back teeth when I was in the Navy. It’s anybody’s guess as to what kind of metal they were using at the time. One of my old Navy buddies commented on Facebook that it was probably an alien alloy with a microchip in the center. The CIA wanted to keep track of my comings and goings. LOL Anyway, Friday I showed up for another appointment and he had a new “super strong” drill and he managed to finish the job. Now, I have two more appointment. The first will measure the crowns to make sure they fit. Then, the crowns go back to the lab for the porcelain covering. Lastly, I go back in to have them permanently glued in. Finished! I am hoping that we will be completely finished by Friday of next week. Twenty six crowns with four bridges in one and a half months, not too shabby as far as I’m concerned.

I’m thinking of starting a column, “My weekly coffees with Expats.” I met Larry again yesterday (Friday) and had another lively discussion of things going on in our lives. Larry is working on building a webpage for himself, writing his weekly column for LiP, trying to find time to begin work on his new book and deal with all the stuff a man married to a Peruvian woman needs to deal with. We always wander from topic to topic without rhyme or reason. This meeting was no different. At one point he noticed an older woman wandering down the sidewalk in the park across the street. She had a large piece of cardboard with something written on it and would stop occasionally to read from it like she was preaching to the world. “I’ll bet she’s got an interesting story,” was Larry’s comment and I knew I would be seeing an essay on her one of these days in LiP. Considering the number of coffees I have with friends who are non-Peruvian, I might be able to create an interesting weekly column for out topics of discussion. What do you think?

Have a great weekend everyone!

Over the past few days, a couple of friends (Larry and Katrina) gave me their thoughts on my query letter. I took their suggestions to heart, made a few changes and sent the letter with the first page of my book to one of the agents on my list. Hitting that send key after I had structured the e-mail was a scary moment for me. I read in a blog by one of the many writers I follow that fear can be devastating to a writer and now I know what he meant. For some writers, the fear may come before they actually start a book, for others finishing what they’ve started and others still it’s putting it out there to be read and critiqued. I made it through all those stages without that gut wrenching feeling until that evening (Friday) when I sat with the mouse hovering over the send button. Fear can freeze you; I have no doubt of that. You have to find a way to move beyond it. From somewhere deep in my mind, a small voice said to me, “what have you got to lose?”

“Nothing!” was my answer. At that moment I realized I would not let my writing be defined by any number of rejections. I am a writer and what I do now is WRITE! I am based enough in reality to know that I am no literary master but I do think I can but words together well and tell a story. The more I do that, the better I will get. I am especially thankful that I have a group of very supportive friends. Some who write and some who might be considered professional readers. I respect all their opinions and insight. I hope the circle of people I create as a writer will grow and with that my skill as a writer. So for those of you who read my musings, whatever your goals, don’t let fear stop you from anything.

I met Kathy at the Patio on Thursday morning for coffee. We had a long rambling discussion about writing, health issues, travel plans and her divorce proceedings. They are things that always come up during our fairly regular weekly meetings. She’ll be heading back to the states soon to take care of some medical issues and get some financial stuff in order. Her big news was having finally received her Rentista Visa so she can stay in Peru after the divorce is finalized. The next day I met Larry. Our discussion revolved around books we have been reading, the writing we have or haven’t done, world problems (especially the Sol to Dollar exchange rate) and the stuff going on with Larry’s family. Today (Sunday), I met Lourdes and Tim for breakfast at Café Zeta. We had a good visit. They greatly admired my new dental work and we talked about Tim’s search for a steady job here in Peru and stuff going on with Lourdes’ family. It was another good morning. On the way back to San Borja I got to see part of the Dakar Rally pass down Javier Prado, a street only two blocks from my apartment. There were thousands and thousands of people lining the streets watching, it was quite exciting.

I went to the movies with Steve and Antonio again this week. We saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Lots of action, great acting, cool special effects; all in all it was a very good movie. I give it 4 ½ Llamas on my rating scale and recommend you see it. I think this one rates a special trip to the theater to see it on the big screen. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Final note – my dentist has fixed the drill so I go back on Monday to start the final phase. I’m hoping it will all be done in a week. Till next time, have a great week and enjoy life. It’s far too short.

Somewhere deep inside me a writer cringes at the lack of work I have accomplished in the last week. It all started with the “query letter” I need when I submit the first book to agents. I thought it would be easy, the hook line, an interesting synopsis of the book and a little bit about myself. The number of hours I spent staring at a blank page trying to think up the perfect hook surprised me. Then the synopsis, how do you sum up in 500 words a book of 113,000 words? Do they want you to give the story away? Are they interested in who the main characters are? It’s all very confusing. I did a little research on-line trying to find examples of successful query letters. They are few and far between my friends. The ones I did find were short, very short. I would classify them as sweet and to the point, less than a page in length. I thought to myself, great, this should be easy but fear clutched at my breast. In the back of my mind that old saying, “you only have one chance to make a first impression,” keeps tossing doubts into the fray. I finally finished a first draft and sent it to a couple of writer friends for their opinion. Haven’t heard back so we’ll see what they have to say. After that I managed to complete chapter 4 of the new book and start in on chapter 5. I do like where the new book is going and it changes directions a little every time I add to it. The sooner I get my queries out to agents, the sooner I will be able to concentrate on the new book. Hopefully a couple will go out before the weekend.

On Sunday I met Tim and Lourdes for breakfast. They were full of news about their trip to Ica and Huacachina last week. They both tried sand boarding and went for rides in a dune buggy. Tim has also taken up surfing recently and is enjoying himself immensely. Lourdes is simply enjoying her time off from University and teaching. Despite the fact that it’s January, they are on summer vacation here in Peru. We talked about other things too. They were interested in my trip to Huanchaco, especially after I told Tim how good the waves were there. That reminds me, my article on the trip has been published by LiP. Here’s the link in case you’re interested.  http://www.peruthisweek.com/travel-229-Perus-Huanchaco-beach-Perfect-waves-and-ancient-ruins/

Ahh, the dentist! It’s been an interesting two days with him. I went in on Monday and had the lower crowns installed. They look great and I am very happy with them. Alex, the dentist, told me to come back on Tuesday and we would start on the last of the work. For those who haven’t been following this, it involves two upper and lower teeth on my left side that had to stay till the end to keep my bite intact while the crown were being installed. The upper two teeth are older crowns put in by my dentist in the US several years ago. The first of the two came out fairly easily but the other one proved to be very problematic. Apparently my US dentist used some super glue unknown to the rest of mankind to set it. After hammering away at it for 30 minutes or so, Alex figured it wasn’t going to come out using this tried and true method. So, he started up his drill and was going to remove the material much like they do a tooth. Unfortunately, the crown is also made of some mysterious super material and holds a microchip the CIA put in my mouth to keep track of me. Everyone knows I work for the CIA and travel from country to country causing problems. LOL The drill broke! Now I have to wait for his equipment to be repaired before we can complete my work. At least we got the molds done. Life is interesting here to say the least. Naturally updates will follow. Have a Happy Hump Day everyone.

I had just finished making the suggested edits that my friend Deb sent me and was formatting the first fifty pages of the book to send along with a query letter to agents when I noticed a big problem. As I read through those pages I discovered that edits I had made from my friend Tim’s in the past month were missing. I continued only to find that the first one hundred pages of edits and rewrites were gone. I spent two frustrating days searching through backup files and my flash drives to see if those changes had been saved there and I could recoup them. Unfortunately, all that came to no avail and I was forced to redo the edits and try to remember my chapter rewrites. Frustrated is a polite word for the feeling that coursed through me those two days. The only thing I can think of, I overwrote the newly edited book with an older version at one point and wiped out all my work. Fortunately, I have managed to reenter the edits and make the necessary changes to those two chapters that needed reworked. Now I need to go back in and reformat the book to suit the agent’s tastes. I want to get all this done so that I can get back to work on the second book.

I started my “Query Letter” this week. This is the letter that you send to agents that lets them know about your book. There are several on-line guides for writing them and they all pretty much say the same thing. You need to write a goof “hook” line. One that will make the agent want to read your synopsis. The synopsis is a 500 word or less description of your book. Think of those descriptions on the inside jackets of books. The ones you go to in the store to see if you might be interested in reading it. Then a little bit about the length of the book, something about your writing credits if you have any and attach the first 50 pages of your book and you have it. Sounds easy right? I thought so until I actually started writing it. So you can just pile up a little more frustration for me. I do hope to get through that this weekend and send it to a couple of friends for comment. Then, miracle of miracles, maybe I’ll find an interested agent who will take me on.

On Friday morning this past week I had coffee with my friend Larry. We talked about our writing, Larry’s successful quest to get his “Carnet” renewed, divorces, on-line presence for authors and a whole host of other topics. I always enjoy out get togethers. He’s started a new book also. I think I may have mentioned it in a previous post, a WWII spy thriller that will take place in Peru. He’s started on his first chapters and like me is struggling already. After that I met Kathy in Miraflores for a light lunch. We talked about writing and then a whole host of other subjects. Her divorce seems to be at a standstill, not uncommon for Peru. It will probably take a couple more years unless the husband comes to his senses and agrees to the Peruvian version of a quicky. The writers’ group didn’t meet this week and will not until the first Thursday in February. There are too many people missing, vacations and other business being taken care of.

I went to the movies twice this weekend. The first time we went to see Elite Assassins. There is an all-star cast in this movie and it’s very exciting. There are lots of explosions, people being shot and great fight scenes. It’s loosely based on a book written by an ex-SAS (British Secret Service) agent. If you have a big screen TV, I think you would enjoy it just as much watching it at home, I know I did. I give it 3½ Llamas. The second movie we saw was the Darkest Hour. It was a SciFi thriller based in Russia about an alien invasion that wipes out most of humanity. It was OK, definitely a buy or rent and watch it at home movie. I’m giving it 3 Llamas, but only because they surprised me somewhat. I don’t want to ruin it for all of you by telling you what that was for me. Hope you all are having a great weekend. Get out and enjoy life. It’s very short. You never know when an alien invasion will occur and take it all away from you.

While in Huanchaco I spent some time trying to get a few words onto paper. I managed to force my way through to the end of chapter 3. Ronin still has more of his story to tell but I’m going to stretch it out over several chapters and involve a couple other characters. I got a good start on Chapter 4. It takes place back in Lima. Eugenia is in the hospital visiting Fredo after his surgery. This chapter will pull in one of my sub plots for this book. This book isn’t coming into focus as quickly as book one did. That may have something to do with the fact that I’m writing this one alone or maybe not. I’m hoping that the further I get into the book, the quicker the words will come.  For the rest of this week, I’m going to go through the suggestions my friend Deb sent me. My little laptop is just too small for that work so I didn’t accomplish anything while on vacation. During that time I need to write a query letter, a synopsis of the book and format the first 50 pages to send to the agents I have selected in trying to get it published.  I hope to have all that accomplished by next Sunday. I can tell already I’m not going to enjoy the business end of writing. But, if I want to be successful at it, I don’t have a choice but to do it and do it well.

I enjoyed my time in Huanchaco immensely. I went with the idea of getting a lot of writing done but ended up spending most of my time relaxing, taking naps and thinking about where I was going to eat my next meal. The beach front was beautiful and the town is very quiet and relaxed. There are lots of people enjoying surfing there. They come from all over the world and Peru to ride the nearly perfect waves this beach has to offer. Everyone was friendly, with smiles, nods and verbal greetings as I walked around town. Vendors sold souvenirs, snacks, cold drinks and snow cones. You could watch jugglers, a tight rope walker or have your photo taken with a monkey or paso horse in full regalia. Most visitors chose to lie on the beach and worship the sun, rotating slowly to develop that perfect tan. You could rent a caballito del totora (a kayak like boat made of reeds) and paddle yourself around the bay. A large church sits atop the hill to the back of the town overlooking the bay. Named the Iglesia Virgen del Socorro and it is the second oldest church in Peru, built between 1535 and 1540. It’s worth the long climb up the stairs for a close up look and a visit to the cemetery that lies on the North side of the church. Landscaped terraces lead up to the church offering a beautiful photo opportunity. This town is just north of Trujillo where the archaeological sites of Chan Chan, the Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna lay just on the outskirts. If you come to Peru this is another must see place. I wrote a travel article for LiP which should be published soon.

We made it back in to Lima at 9pm New Year’s Eve. I was exhausted from a lack of sleep the night before so I went to bed almost immediately. At midnight the fireworks started and went till at least 2am. It sounded like they were igniting large sticks of dynamite right outside my bedroom window. So another sleep deprived night meant I spent New Year’s Day exhausted. Top that off with every store in Lima (grocery stores) being closed and I was forced to eat at restaurants again. I did get my good night’s sleep last night though and am now caught up on food shopping and laundry, time to get back to the books in a serious way. I hope all of you have a magnificent New Year full of happiness, love, peace and prosperity. Pax Vobiscum!

I always thought that after I retired time would slow down a bit. That certainly hasn’t been the case and the past few days have been a perfect example. Chapter 3 has sat untouched, staring at me from my computer screen causing feelings of guilt. The character speaking in this chapter, Ronin, bothers my dreams; he wants to tell his story. I want to tell his story. But, last minute preparations for the Holidays, attending dinners and breakfasts, cleaning the apartment and then packing for my mini-vacation; well, time just slipped away. Now I sit on the balcony of my hotel room and stare out at beautiful waves as they roll in to an empty beach. The days from my last entry till now, vanished, like the early morning mist on the ocean after the sun rises. This morning after I finish writing, post this entry and answer my e-mails I will start work on chapter 3 and Ronin again. I hope to finish it and start chapter 4. Sometime in the next couple of days I will need to look over my friend Deb’s suggestions for modifications of the book. I need to include them also before submitting the manuscript to agents the first week of January. So far I can tell that she’s caught a few errors that both Tim and I missed. I’m looking for inspiration to start a couple of new short stories also. A crescent moon and bright star in the sky last night might have given me a new idea. We’ll see.

Christmas Eve was exactly as I pictured it in my last entry. Steve’s Mom put a huge feast on the table and we all ate till it was coming out of our ears. The dinner was followed by hot chocolate and panetone. The hot chocolate was so good, made the old fashion way by heating milk and adding real cocoa. Afterwards I rushed up to the 6^th floor roof to watch the fireworks. It is an incredible display. Think July 4^th in the US but they are going off all around you for as far as the eye can see. It is truly incredible. I got back to the apartment about 2am but sleep was hard to come by. The fireworks went off in the neighborhood till 4am, large bangs startling me awake every time I was about to dose off. I don’t remember them doing this on New Year’s Eve last year.

After Christmas it was all about getting the apartment cleaned, my maid was sick, the laundry done and packed for the trip to Huanchaco. I’m sitting on the balcony of my hotel room overlooking the beach now as I write this entry. We arrived yesterday very early in the morning. Steve came with. He’s visiting a cousin in Trujillo to help him celebrate his birthday. We spent the day wandering around the small beach town in search of souvenirs and beachwear. Breakfast and lunch were enjoyable but only having S/.100 Sol notes to pay for things has turned into a hassle. It took an hour for the restaurant where we had breakfast to get change for me. Didn’t matter though, I refuse to be in a hurry while I’m here. Steve left after lunch and will be spending the rest of the trip staying with his aunt and cousin. The sun has been out the entire time I’ve been here and the temperature has been perfect. A faint sunburn has already appeared on my legs and I need to start remembering to apply the sunscreen before I go for my walks. My next entry will be back in Lima. Sorry there are no photos but I forgot to bring the cable to download them from my camera. Have a great week everyone and remember to celebrate the New Year safely.

“Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”

Nothing could be further from the truth in Peru. The tradition here is mainly to exchange gifts Christmas Eve and then have a huge family dinner at midnight, all this while fireworks light up the sky over the entirety of Lima. I will be spending my Christmas Eve with Steve and his family. This will be the third one for me and if tradition holds, we will have Pavo (turkey) Estofoado, Res de Rojo, rice, potatoes, green beans, a salad and some type of dessert (probably Panetone, a Peruvian fruit cake) with a nice glass of red wine. The food is delicious; Steve’s Mom is an excellent cook. Her boyfriend, Jose Manuel, will fix the Res de Rojo. It’s a roast of sorts (beef) cooked long and slow in a red sauce. There will be six or seven of us at the dinner and in all probability enough food for twenty. Sometime between two and three AM, we will head back to the apartment and I will spend a night tossing and turning from eating so late. Ahhh, but that’s tradition and you can’t fight it.

I’ve managed to get a little writing done this week. I’m 2/3^rd the way through chapter 3 in my second book. I would be further along but the character telling the story in this chapter has been hiding from me and I’ve had a hard time getting him to reveal himself. It’s a dark chapter dealing with child slavery and boy soldiers. I want to try and inject a little social consciousness in this book without being too preachy. To research for the book, I’ve been reading articles on the web about the long term affects this can have on these children. It’s a very scary and heartbreaking story. I also received some more pages from Tim Moloney on my dialog for the first book. I will work on that this afternoon. So far, I’m on track to get the first book to some agents the first week of the New Year. I’ve also decided to try and write a short fantasy story for my grandniece and nephews. I’m also going to try and illustrate it. This will be a long term project and I’m only four pages into it so far.

The writers’ group didn’t meet this week. Between illness, new students and travel; we couldn’t get enough people together for a meeting. I was already in Miraflores to meet Tim for breakfast when I started getting the calls. Instead I spent the morning with Tim listening to his travails about teaching English in Peru. He’s having problems getting a job at an established school with regular hours and benefits. I got to see the new place he’s staying in and afterwards we wandered through the Surquillo street market looking at all the offerings. I managed to keep my wallet in my pocket and came home without a bunch of stuff I really don’t need. On Friday I have my regular meeting with Larry over coffee. As always our topics of conversation were wide ranging and interesting.

Last but not least, I will probably be moving in the next three months. Due to the plunge of the Dollar against the Sol (it was 3.16/$1 when I first came to Peru, it’s now 2.67/$1), she’s raising my rent $100 a month. That kind of price increase is not in my budget so I will be scouring the want ads for the next few months looking for a place to live. I’ve been lucky so far, let’s hope the streak continues.

Merry Christmas everyone and I hope you all have a healthy and prosperous New Year.

After outlining the first twelve chapters in my second book, I have decided to set it to the side for a bit. I need to polish up book one and get it out to some agents the first week of the New Year. I’m still waiting for my friend Tim’s comments on my dialog in the rest of the book. I feel like I now have the gist of what he’s getting at in his first round of changes. I was being way too formal, polite so to speak. It’s just not the way people talk to each other in everyday life. I only have six chapters left to work on and a couple of places where Tim and a couple of other readers think I should give more insight to my two main characters, Lourdes and Rodriguez. I am both excited and nervous about this stage. I’ve braced myself for rejection. I know many famous writers went through a lot of rejection letters before someone finally accepted them. I also know that these days, some writers have had considerable success self publishing after they were rejected multiple times. I haven’t decided where that cut off point is for me yet.

This past week I got to see mysterious magical creatures parading in a mall, an unexpected rainbow in the sky over San Borja and have a plethora of beautifully feathered birds sing to me outside my window. The holiday season is in full swing here in Lima. The malls are decorated. Christmas Carols play over loud speakers. Kids drag their parents through multiple stores pointing to everything they want to find under the tree Christmas morning. One of my friends, Katrina, is having a gingerbread house baking party this Sunday. I hope she bakes some extra cookies and brings them to the writers’ group. The national ballet is putting on the Nutcracker and the museums will have free pass day for everyone. I put up my tree this past week. It is a small affair but enough to remind me of the holidays and put me in an even cheerier mood.

The writers’ group met on Thursday. Only Katrina, Kathy and I were in attendance. We went over a travel article that Kathy had drafted a couple of days before. It shows a lot of promise and with a few additions and small changes will be a great read. We also spent time socializing and plan to meet next Thursday even though it’s very close to Christmas Day. Hopefully Jack, our new member, and Victoria will be able to come to this one. I met Tim last Sunday for breakfast. Lourdes had to work on some papers for her University class. We had a nice chat and he seems to have a good goal set for the New Year. Larry and I met yesterday (Friday) for coffee. We talked about my plans for getting the book published and my ideas for the second book. Larry also told me about an idea he has for a book he wants to write, a spy story taking place in Peru during World War II. It sounds like it will be very interesting.

My dental work is progressing. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the chair getting my teeth drilled down to points to support the crowns. Yesterday I finally had the first fitting of the uppers. They look great but the bite was off so they have to go back to the lab. Monday I will have the second fitting and hopefully, they will be put in place permanently on Tuesday, then on to the lowers. It’s a long process but the smile will be worth it when it’s all over. Pictures to follow.

As I wait for my friend Tim to finish his edits on the dialog in my first book I feel the need to be productive again. So, I have started the second book in my planned three book series. The first two chapters have been completed. There are almost 2,000 words that begin a new adventure for my intrepid detective. He is starting out in the Amazon jungle. He’s been assigned to assist the anti-narcotics section of the Peruvian National Police in finding the labs that are supplying large quantities of cocaine to the street gangs of Lima. I know where and how I want the book to get there. The process of filling in all the details is left. There’ll be new characters to develop, old ones to kill off or make disappear, sad moments, happy moments, horrible moments and maybe a few laughs. I hope to provide the reader with enough action to keep them turning the pages, unable to put the book down. It will be a daunting goal to say the least.

Recently I’ve notice the fees for my banking transactions rising steadily. It’s not enough that they’re making billions of dollars in profit; they have to squeeze the poor and middle class with fees until they have nothing left. I ask you, where can you put your money, get a decent interest rate and have it be safe. I’ve come to the conclusion that burying it in a can in the yard is almost better than having a savings or checking account. The moment that brought me to this state of mind was noticing a mysterious $50 deduction from the amount of money being sent to Peru from my account in the US. Let me add that my bank in the US charges $40 to send the money, my bank in Peru charges $18 to receive it in addition to that $50 that evaporates between the US and Peru. That’s $108 a month to do an electronic transfer of funds. Excuse me! How in the hell can they justify that kind of charge. That’s $1,296.00 a year, $12,960.00 over 10 years, providing they don’t raise their rates again. What a scam, Bernie Madoff and his ilk have nothing on these guys.

On another note, today is the day my upper permanent crowns are put in. I’m looking forward to having a beautiful white smile again. When I went in to select the shade of white I wanted, I was all set to get them as white as I could. After looking at the selection, I changed my mind and went down two shades. The top one looked like a bright white plastic sheet in my mouth. Just a tad unnatural. For those people who have seen every episode of “Friends,” remember the one where Ross had his teeth whitened? Like that only brighter. I thought I was going to get them yesterday but that didn’t happen. As a result, I missed the writers’ group meeting. Apparently only Katrina and Victoria made it. Not a good for a critique. I think I will suggest we do Katrina’s work again this coming Thursday.

On Wednesday Kathy and I met a friend from our days in ICPNA (learning Spanish) for lunch at Café Z. It was nice seeing Kano again. He’s a nice young man, very ambitious and hard working. We chatted about things going on in our lives. Naturally I was all about my writing. Kano talked about the tour business he and his dad are trying to get going and Kathy talked about the trips she’s done and plans on doing.

That’s it for now; need to get to work on Chapter 3. Have a great weekend everyone. Get up, get active and try to exercise that thing between your ears also.